The rising cost of energy has spurred many homeowners to supplement their heating needs with wood burning fireplaces and stoves. The low cost and availability of fuel renders fireplaces and stoves attractive alternatives to complete dependence on conventional energy sources including electricity, gas, and oil.
Efficient fire fuels are readily combustible, burn cleanly, and provide a maximum of heat output. However, most fuels, including wood and charcoal, require the use of ignition expedients, commonly known as firestarters.
Although firestarters may be as simple as wood kindling or paper, slightly more sophisticated products such as wax coated wood chips, pitch soaked wood cubes, fat wood, impregnated cardboard, and gelled alcohol, are common. Because of the cost to produce firestarters, they are not considered to be used as primary fire fuel. Firestarters are designed only to initiate the burn.
The effectiveness of a firestarter may be measured by efficiency in relation to the ignition of fuel in a particular setting. To be effective in a fireplace, a sufficient quantity of firestarter must be supplied to accomplish the relatively slow process of fuel ignition. A wood stove operates similarly, except that once the fuel has been ignited the combustion process may be controlled by the regulation of air intake to the stove. In either case, the quantity of firestarter must be relatively great to effect the eventual ignition of the fuel.
The "pellet" stove is a recent advancement in wood burning technology. The pellet stove was born out of concerns for efficiency and the adverse effect on air quality caused by increasing popularity of wood burning. The pellet stove was designed for efficient wood pellet burning with minimal incomplete combustion by-products. To accomplish high efficiency and complete combustion, the stove consumes a great amount of oxygen. Oxygen may be introduced into the stove with the aid of a fan which induces a draft and turbulence in the stove's burn chamber. The operation of the fan, however, often creates difficulties for firestarters. When the stove is in operation, the turbulence is such that existing firestarters are incapable of maintaining combustion sufficient to ignite the fuel pellets.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a firestarter which effects fuel ignition rapidly and efficiently under a variety of burning conditions. In addition, there is a need in the art for methods of manufacturing such effective and efficient firestarters. The present invention fulfills these needs, and provides further related advantages.